The meeting room at the Department for Education and Skills booked for Ruth Pimentel - national director of the foundation stage - contains a single picture of a road winding off into the distance. It's an appropriate backdrop for someone at the start of an 18-month journey overseeing the introduction of the new comprehensive framework governing the care and learning of children in England from birth to the end of reception.

The early years foundation stage (EYFS), being launched today, will become obligatory in September 2008 for all Ofsted-registered early years settings. "Compared to some other recent initiatives, this is a generous timescale," she says. "But the scale of the exercise cannot be underestimated. It will affect the work of over 70,000 childminders and some 38,000 schools, children's centres and nurseries."

Far-reaching reforms

Despite the workload, Pimentel is buoyant, pointing out the extent to which local authorities already have established networks for disseminating such far-reaching educational reforms.

Creating a more qualified early years sector is one of the key ingredients. It is expected that everyone registered to cater to this sector will have or be studying towards an NVQ3 childcare qualification by the September 2008 kick-off. "To assist with this process, we are collaborating with the Children's Workforce Development Council to create a series of study units geared around aspects of the EYFS, which the QCA will be giving NVQ3 accreditation," says Pimentel. Among the benefits of such training is a smoothing out of the variations in quality of care and learning children receive and the creation of a more stable pool of early years specialists.

There is a £250m transformation fund over two years to smooth the arrival of the EYFS, and there may also be general Sure Start funds. As for the cost implications for practitioners, Pimentel is noncommittal: "It depends where a setting is starting out from. We have, for example, emphasised the importance of IT in the early years. We never say 'you must have', but settings do need to rise to the challenge of mirroring what is happening in the outside world. And a key factor in the EYFS is that it should encourage detailed communication with parents and comprehensive record-keeping of children's achievement - something that digital photography can capture particularly well, recording process as well as the end results."

The discussion shifts quickly to issues of assessment. The EYFS attracted some unfavourable headlines when first announced. Critics said "tests for tots" were being proposed, but nothing could be further from the truth, Pimentel says.

"The framework lays down assessment criteria designed to capture teachers' evaluations of such things as their children's physical and creative development, communication and mathematical skills. And core to everything is the recognition that care and learning cannot be falsely divided."

Laying the foundation

Pimentel continues: "Let's make no mistake - the introduction of the EYFS is momentous. It marks an explicit commitment in legislation stipulating what local authorities should be doing to support our youngest children. It is recognition that if we can get it right for all young people between birth and five then we are laying down educational and emotional fundamentals that will help them throughout their lives."

Settings where good practice is already well established will probably find the EYFS confirms much that is already established. More uncertain is whether it can professionalise the child-minding sector and drive improvement in the most deprived areas without significant financial backup. The EYFS will have to continue to function as a part of an education system in which resources are weighted towards secondary pupils, despite the longer-lasting gains quality early years education are known to deliver.

Pimentel has been a reception teacher, primary head and once even operated her own village nursery - she is in a good position to know the impact the EYFS can achieve.

But now she heads for the door - off for another high-level briefing? "No," she replies, "on Thursdays I coach my daughters' football team, and time spent with them is at a premium right now."